More Than a Friend
by EllisW
Summary: Ash sets foot on Unova soil for the first time. However, only hours into his first day, a strange explosion occurs nearby. Out of nowhere, Ash appears to save a mysterious girl, bringing company to her lonely journey. An alternative look at how Ash met Iris. NegaiShipping AshXIris
1. A Rough Start

_Hello everyone, this story was discontinued a long time ago, and now that I've finished writing "Seduction", I'm going to finish this one! I've made a lot of changes to the original chapters, and finally given the story an ending, I hope you enjoy the story, if it's not up to scratch then please forgive me, I did write this in 2011 after all!_

_By the way, I've changed the rating from M to T, I can't write M rated stories at all..._

_**This story is about an alternative look on how Iris met Ash... **_

**Chapter 1: A Rough Start**

A peaceful day bloomed over Unova, the typically bright sky lighting up the scenery, and the smell of fresh air pumping up the Pokemon trainers of the region with adrenalin for another action packed day in the Pokemon world.

After his defeat in the Sinnoh League, Ash Ketchum goes back to square one in a brand new environment, leaving Brock and Dawn to go their separate ways. He felt as if he should be used to this now, but the emotions of leaving close friends always seems to stick in his mind for a few months. Waking up this morning though, he would have a completely unique start to a new era. Many oceans away lied Unova, a completely unknown region to Ash's mind. Having never laid an eye on a picture or map of this mysterious place, deep thought pondered for a while as he slowly dragged himself out of bed.

The new era in a new region meant there were new Pokemon to discover, so he decided like normal to leave his friends from Sinnoh at Professor Oak's lab in Kanto. He wasn't going fully alone though, his closest friend Pikachu, had his mind set for new battles and challenges. Their mentality was equal, their goal was already set- to collect all 8 badges and win the Unova League, as well as any other challenge along the way to become a Pokemon master. He wouldn't be who he was though without some of the inspiration that glazed off of his companions, he had a smile on his face though, 'cause you just never know who you're gonna meet next, it was all very exciting...

It was the start of his first full day in Unova, and the pair were already facing obstacles along the way. Ash and Pikachu had been chased down by a pack of Mandibuzz, who were remarkably ugly and intimidating Pokemon. They chased him for a mile before Ash managed to hide away in a cave for shelter. The chase had taken its toll though, Ash and Pikachu were both exhausted.

After hiding away until they had gone and scanning them with his new PokeDex, Ash and Pikachu emerged from the cave, dusted off their clothes and fur and set out once again onto Route 1 where Unova life was gleaming, the brand new Pokemon's eyes sparkling with hope and ambitions as he strolled past. Swannas flew by and Watchogs sprinted past. It was inspirational, there was no form of depression or regret from Sinnoh just the pure simple basics that makes life a gem.

"Ok, Pikachu this is it! The life you'll never take for granted! What's in the first city? Nobody knows! Man, I'm so psyched!" Ash said while beaming.

"You need to find out where the first city is first..." Pikachu added, dampening Ash's spirit slightly.

Ash: "Oh yeah..." Ash stopped running, he now realised he didn't have a clue where he was. "Maybe we could find someone who could get us directions?" he suggested while scratching the back of his head.

Only a few miles away from Ash was a young girl with a particular passion for dragon-type Pokemon, with her goal being to one day become a dragon master. She had long purple hair, with gleaming brown eyes and chocolate coloured skin. Her name, Iris. She sat there up in a tree with her partner Axew, who was chilling in her hair. She had only recently started her journey, but the lack of company made her very bored.

You may be mistaken to think that Unova is all nice and rosy... But in the dark trenches and caves lied secret underground organizations, Team Rocket had arrived, this time with some dignity under their belts. Dressed up in disguise, Jessie, James and Meowth were now Admin status, and a force to reckoned with. Ash has stepped all over them for too long now, and enough was enough. When would they make their move though? Too soon for some, too tragic for reckoning...

Ash's march of champions came to an abrupt halt not even halfway through Route 1. Being a typical mother, Ash's mum gave him a check up call to check his Xtranseiver was working.

"Ash Ketchum why didn't you answer my other three calls?!" Delia's voice cried out from the speakers. Ash sighed, it would be nice if she wasn't so protective all the time... She continued:  
"How is my little hero doing? Have you got clean clothes, underwear, pyjamas and condoms for wink, wink, nudge, nudge?" Ash blushed in embarrassment.

"You're a bit strange sometimes you know.. But I'll be fine, I've done this sort of thing before."  
"You've already lost your virginity?" she cried in horror.  
"No! You should know what I mean... Jeez."

Pikachu found the whole situation very amusing.  
"Hey Ash, put the cocaine away!" the yellow mouse cried, trying to confuse Delia over the phone.  
Ash: "Since when did you get a mind like that Pikachu?"

Pikachu: "From you, you dirty bastard!"

Ash gave Pikachu the falcon punch but the humour was off, a massive explosion ignited from the tress only a mile away. The violent bang pounded against his eardrums. Ash dropped his phone to get a breather of the action as the debris from the impact collided against his face.

"What's going on..?" he shouted. His curiosity got the better of him, as he soon found himself sprinting towards the source of the explosion. Smoke emerged so he had a clear sight of where to go, for a first day in Unova, this was quite extraordinary. He thought he'd seen it all but Unova was looking like it would be a bumpy ride to say the least..

A thick cloud of smoke filled the air, it was unbreathable. The Watchogs dashed away. Ash battled through the bushes for any source of the explosion. But then Unova's sun soon shone through it all, scared faces of new creatures peaked from the distance, as the explosion just came and went. The last particles of smoke faded out as the sun's rays pointed over into the distance. Ash followed his gut and discovered where it all started. A deep, dark hole ripped open the ground. Ash stood right on its edge and stared down it for a while trying to work out what happened. But he didn't know anything about Unova, so he was practically useless for answers. Then, out of the darkness two red lights glowed together, as if they were staring right back at Ash in the face. Were they eyes? Ash just couldn't comprehend. Then he noticed out of the corner of his eye a small figure was slowly moving, and in a lot of pain. A small green Pokemon Ash had never saw before was leaning over it.

What had happened?


	2. Introductions

_Thank you for all of your reviews, good or bad they help and motivate. I hope you'll enjoy this (updated) second chapter!_

**Chapter 2: Introductions**

Ash edged closer to the body, not quite knowing what to do. He felt his spine shivering. Buried almost motionless lied a dark skinned girl that seemed around Ash's age. A tiny green dragon Pokemon was leaning over her crying. Although, she seemed pretty badly injured, Ash's eyes lit up. He never looked at a girl the same way, time slowed down dramatically. He was going through some proper strange emotions here. It was like no other. He had to cut this sudden train of thought off though as he had to help her out. The small dragon looked up at Ash, giving him the puppy eyes face. He immediately got onto his knees to try and work out any injuries. The small dragon was in deep panic and Ash couldn't make out a word he was saying, not even Pikachu could comprehend.

"Slow down! We heard a huge explosion so we rushed over here to see what had happened. What happened to you?" Pikachu said to the young dragon.  
"We-we were sitting up in a tree as normal, and then a-all of a sudden a giant shadow appeared then boom we're all dead!" the green dragon responded, shivering with fear.  
"Okay there's no need to worry, I'm Pikachu. Ash and I are going to do our best to help you out here!" Pikachu said while laying a paw on the dragon's shoulder.  
"Wow, thank you very much, I'm Axew!"

The girl wasn't dead, much to Ash's relief, but certainly in bad shape. What could Ash do though? He was bang in the middle of a route he's never been on before, having never seen any of the towns or cities, he was lost. "There doesn't seem to be any Pokemon Centres around anywhere, they're probably miles off. It's like we're stuck in the middle of nowhere." he thought, feeling useless at the same time. There was no way he'd let anyone hurt stay down to suffer, so he picked her up and carried her out of the scene where the incident occurred. He didn't quite know what he was doing, but it felt strange. He felt, strangely different...

Axew slowly followed, never leaving his trainer. Pikachu explained everything. A strong complexion of determination was written all over Ash's face; he wasn't going to let a pretty girl down. He was unusually silent along the way, Pikachu caught him glancing down on her as he ran, distracting him from looking where he was going. "Ash is acting incredibly strange..." Pikachu thought to himself, slightly worried about how serious he was during this situation. Ash was on a mission.

A stampede of thoughts rushed to Ash's mind. When she wakes up, what will she say to him? What would she do? He became anxious as a flood of emotions rushed around his 10 year old mind. He had no idea how to talk to her.. Ash had never taken an attraction to girls before; having travelled around with so many people, Ash never really took the time for relationships, he was never willing to let anything get in the way of his quest to become a Pokemon master. However, for the first time ever, Ash felt himself strangely attracted to this girl that he carried in his arms.

He ran for what felt like miles and was beginning to tire out. He was starting to panic slightly, having no clue at all where he was, he had reasons to be worried. There wasn't any sign of a town or city near by, so Ash would have to camp for the night. This also meant he had a patient to look after.

The day was coming to a close and the sun was starting to set, he was now exhausted. Pikachu had given up running, while Axew got worn out after a few yards. At this point, both Pokemon were sitting comfortably on Ash's shoulder. Ash stopped in his tracks, finally admitting to defeat on finding any towns or cities. It was time to find a spot to camp by. Luckily, this being at the start of a new journey, Ash was more prepared than ever. He had extra sleeping bags, clean clothes, and lots of various different supplies, should he ever get in a situation like this one.

He gently put the girl down onto the grass, making sure her long, flowing hair didn't get caught anywhere. She couldn't stay asleep forever, he had to do something. What if she woke up later in the night when he was asleep? He wouldn't have a clue what had happened then... He had to try and wake her up right now. He slowly got down onto his knees, and slowly stoked her hair off of her face.  
"Pssssst, wake up..." He whispered softly, being gentle, however his mind took control as him as he found himself stroking her face and hair. He didn't want to stop, he was trapped in such a calm and tender moment, with someone he never met but was strangely attracted to at first sight already...

She let out a tender sigh, and then slowly opened her eyes to reveal the most beautiful brown orbs that Ash had ever seen before. He soon found himself gazing right into them until he panicked and looked away. He never usually had trouble at looking someone in the eye, but suddenly his confidence had vanished. The girl seemed troubled, she had been completely oblivious to Ash carrying her around the whole time, she looked very confused at where she was and who she was with, but was soon comforted by a very relieved looking Axew.

"Are you okay?" he said softly as he held out a hand and smiled. The mysterious girl looked up in confusion, and stared into Ash's eyes for a while, before quickly sitting up. Her quick actions put a strain on her back, so Ash quickly reacted and slowly lowered her back down, reaching for a pillow from his bag to rest her head on. "What happened?" the girl asked, speaking in such a calm and tender voice.  
"There was some sort of explosion, Pikachu and I can running over quickly to see what had happened, then we discovered you and Axew." Ash replied.  
"How did I end up here?" she asked.  
"I tried to carry you to the nearest Pokemon Centre, but you see I've only just arrived here in Unova and so I don't know where any of the towns or cities are. I eventually had to give up, so I thought we could camp here the night!" he said, but soon looked down in embarrassment and started to play with his fingers.  
"That is, if you want to..." he added.  
Her stunned, shell shocked expression suddenly changed to a grateful smile.  
"Wow, thank you so much! I don't really have anywhere else to go, so I'll camp here with you! It'll be fun!" She smiled, but her expression soon seemed worried again. What was more confusing is that she tried to hide it from Ash.  
"I forgot to introduce myself, I'm Ash, and this is my buddy, Pikachu! This is my first day in Unova, we've just come over from Kanto!" Ash said  
"Wow, you must have had a long journey then! I'm Iris, and this is my partner Axew. Nice to meet you!" she replied, although her expression didn't seem sincere enough to be genuine.  
"Is something wrong?" he asked, trying to find out what was wrong.  
"Um, well it's a bit complicated... Can I tell you in the morning? If it would be alright with you, can we go to where the explosion happened tomorrow? I'm really tired... Today's been horrible, although at least I met you, you seem very nice!" She responded. Ash blushed harder than he ever had before, there was no hiding cheeks as red as his at that point. He struggled to get his words out now, his heart was pounding against his chest.  
"I understand, we'll talk properly in the morning. I have a spare sleeping bag for you!" Ash announced in a really excited tone.  
Iris laughed.  
"You're really that excited about camping- what a kid!" she said in a sarcastic tone before turning to Axew.  
Ash simply laughed it off, as he quickly rummaged through his bag.

Soon the pair of them were lying down watching the thousands of stars that gathered in the night sky. Ash was loving every minute of it, he just couldn't get Iris off of his mind.

Eventually before he drifted off to sleep, he heard a whisper:

"Thanks, Ash"

It was from Iris. Ash soon went to sleep, only this time with a huge smile on his face.


	3. To The Future

_Thank you very much for the reviews, I hope you'll enjoy this (updated) third chapter!_

**Chapter 3: To The Future**

A new day had finally arrived. Ash slowly opened his eyes, while doing so, he quickly noticed that there was an eclipse- the sun was nowhere to be seen! His eyes quickly adjusted to find Iris, who was beaming at him. She quickly panicked and jumped out of the way, her sudden movement cause the sun to shine right through to Ash, which he wasn't expecting. His gave a small gasp as his eyes took time to adjust to the brightness, she must have been watching over him for a while. Iris stood there, giggling in the background.  
"Good morning, Ash!" she said gracefully. She was already wide awake.  
"Good morning, Iris..." he replied in a tired voice, he was still rubbing his eyes.  
"Come on, I want to show you something!" she said in an excited tone. Ash had no time to react as she quickly grabbed his hand and start running. She was definitely back to full health as far as Ash was concerned.

Iris led Ash on for what felt like miles, but she never said a word. Ash felt a bit puzzled with many different feelings lapping around his mind. The main was: "Where are we off to?". He was very lost now, having never been to Unova before, he didn't know what was happening. Occasionally, she would glance at him, as he just gazed at her. He didn't know what he was doing, but for some reason he was naturally drawn to her...

After what felt like hours of constant running, Iris stopped Ash at what was one of the most remarkable sights he had ever seen. A secret end of the forest with different flowers of all different colours with different Pokemon.

"Not many people have ever seen this part of Unova, I found it very recently, and claimed it as my own, so it's my own unique hideout!"

"Wow, this place is incredible! So is this where you live?" Ash asked in a confused tone.

"I suppose so... Here, sit down and let's talk about everything!" she said, in a hurried manner. Both of them sat down on the grass, and began to talk.

"You see, I've only just started my journey... My aim is to become a dragon master, I come from the Village of Dragons after all! But I don't really know how I'm going to accomplish that, and to be honest it does get quite lonely sometimes out on your own..."  
"Yeah I hear ya, that's why I always travel with friends!" Ash responded happily.  
The mentioning of the word 'friends' seemed to sadden Iris, she looked down and sighed.  
"What's wrong?" Ash asked.  
"You see Ash, I don't really have any friends... I ran out of the Opelucid Academy to start my own journey, but still, I'm always alone. I know I have Axew, and my other Pokemon, but that's different from having an actual person with you isn't it..."  
"Don't worry Iris, there's someone for everyone!" Ash said with a wide grin, hopefully suggesting something to Iris. Regardless of whether that worked or not, he moved on to his next question...  
"What do you remember from that explosion yesterday?"  
Her eyes widened.  
"Blackness... and those piercing red eyes... It had been in my nightmares ever since I was little... It's Kyurem, the dragon and ice type Pokemon. In ancient mythology, it used to eat people and Pokemon and night time, which is why everyone's scared to go out at night... I don't want to be alone when it's around..."

Iris wasn't completely settled, and was becoming a bit delirious from it all. Tears started to come to her eyes.

Iris: "I don't feel safe anymore Ash... Ever since I found this place, it feels as if everyone is onto me. I don't get it.."

Ash got up and sat closer to Iris.

"You don't need to be alone though..." Ash said softly to her.  
"But who will help me? I feel as if the world's against me all of the time..." Iris replied out of frustration.  
Ash soon saw his opportunity, and slowly held onto Iris' hand.  
"You don't need to be alone, I won't let that happen anyway... Why don't you come with me..?" Ash realised this was a bit of a bold question. "I mean only if you really want to, but I will be here for you all the time anyway..."

Iris started crying "But it's following me, the red eyes.." She said with tears flowing down her face, bracing herself for Ash to inevitably retract his comment.

"If there's any trouble, then it'll be my problem too!"

Iris lifted her head in disbelief. Someone actually wanted to be with her! She felt blessed, it was a once in a life time opportunity. She gazed at him.

Wow... Thank you so much, Ash. Will I be a bit much though for you..?"

"Never, I'd love to have you along with me! After all these years I'm used to it! I've got Pokemon to discover and dreams to fulfil, I'm sure you have too, you just need a new start."

Iris was overjoyed by this, and to Ash's surprise she gave him one massive hug. He didn't quite know where this was going, but he never wanted it to end, so he just held back onto her. Iris looked up into Ash's eyes. Ash looked back. The two shared feelings for each other that both of them had never experienced before. Iris wrapped both arms around Ash and leaned in to kiss him straight on the lips. Out of sheer joy, Iris found herself lovingly kissing a boy that she only met yesterday. It felt so right though... She could stay in the same position forever. Ash felt the same, amazed by how the start to his Unova journey had gone.

Iris soon pulled her lips away from Ash, and tears started to fall again. This time, they were tears of joy. No element of fear was left inside of her anymore, she finally felt safe, with Ash by her side.

"Thank you so much..." Iris whispered into Ash's ear.

The future was set out in front of them. Ash knew that even after the various different people that he had met along his path, that Iris was different. Iris knew that after an age of feeling alone and unloved, that Ash was different. As they walked off down the path of route 1, they both shared glances at each other. Both of them knew that the other was more than a friend...

_Well I'm sorry for what is probably a disappointing end to the story. Coming back to this and continuing it was a very difficult task, but at least it has an ending now. I'll be back soon with another NegaiShipping fanfic, until then everyone! _


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